Package mail-box.



No. 664.53I. Patented Dec. 25, |900.

A. C. CHASE.

PACKAGE MAIL BOX.

(Applimion me@ sape. 2o, 1899. mmwed Nov. 2o, mou., (No Model.)

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ANITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AUSTIN C. CHASE, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

PACKAGE MAIL-BOX.l

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,531, dated December 25, 1900.

Application led September 20, 1899. Renewed November 2p, 1900. Serial. No. 37,147. (No model.)

To all 'Lu/wm, t may concern:

Beit known that I, AUSTIN C. CHASE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Package Mail-Boxes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

My invention is an improvement. in inailhoxes designed for receiving packages of various sizes, and has lfor its object the provision of independent means for receivingsmall packages and means for receiving long and slender packages in such manner that access to the interior of the receptacle may not be had.

Various mail-boxes have heretofore been devised for receiving packages, and some of these have had provision for receiving packages of limited sizes without affording access tothe interior, and others have been capable of receiving long packages, but in doing so they have rendered the receptacle accessible to unauthorized persons, and accordingly I have devised the hereinafter-described special mail-box for receiving all kinds of packages, while at the same time preventing unauthorized access to the interior of the box.

The details of construction of my invention will be more fully pointed out in the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, illustrative of a preferred form of my invention, and the latter will be more particularly defined in the claims.`

Inthe drawings, Figure l is a central vertical section taken on the line l l, Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof, one of the doors being partially opened in order to show the mail-bag inside of the box. plan view thereof, the cover being shown in section in raised position.

The general shape and size of the can or re! Fig. 3 is a top' order that they may accommodate themselves to all situations, inasmuch as a hinged door could not be opened in many of the confined situations in which mail-boxes are liable to be placed. At the upper end of the wall a2 I provide a plurality of hooks a5, on which a mail-bag a may be hung in position to receive the mail deposited at the top of the box. I am aware that it is not new to provide a bag within a mail-box so that the mail may be all gathered ready for removal when the mail-carrier arrives, and therefore I do not claim the same, broadly, but only in the speciic form and combination herein shown.

At the top the box is provided with a cover di, hinged at d8 to the back wall of the box,

`said cover being slanted rearwardly, as clearly shownin Fig. 1, in order to provide a proper Watershed, and being furthermore provided with an overhanging rear end a9, constructed for the double purpose of protecting the hinge from rain, doc., and also for stopping the cover before it reaches a vertical position, thereby insuring that the cover will always automatically fall forward quickly when raised.

Adjacent the rear end of the cover is a leaf or table d10, connected at its sides by a wing d12 with the cover proper, so that as the cover is raised into the dotted position,- Fig. 1, the leaf al is raised also into the dotted position there shown, being stopped, preferably, by a ledge als, projecting rearwardly from a transverse partition or division wall am; but I do not herein claim, broadly, this table d10 and the wings am, inasmuch as somewhat similar constructions have heretofore been employed in mailboxes, but in a different connection from that herein shown. The cover preferably projects forward so as to inclose the en opening being normally closed bya flap-door 0,18, pivoted at Q19 (see Fig. l) to the under IOO the lid a7 will simply be raised and the package will be thrown upon the leaf or table 0,10, whereupon as the lid drops the package will automatically be deposited in the mail-bag CLG by sliding off the leaf d10 thereinto. When, however, it is desired to deposit a package of such length that it cannot be got into the box through the ordinary mechanism at the back of the box, then the part-y depositing it raises the lid a7 with one hand and drops the package through the slit 0,15 or through the opening a at the front of the box, the door als yielding to permit the package to pass through into the box below and automatically closing immediately upon the passage of the package.

Removal of packages from the box through the front opening is impossible, for the reason that the door als will spring forward and pinch the hand or arm if the latter is inserted into the box.

No rain can enter the box for the reasons described, and the mail can be readily removed simply by opening the doors (which will ordinarily be locked in any usual manner) and unhooking the contained bag from the hooks a5.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y 1. The herein-described package mail-box, comprising a can or receptacle having at its top both a hinged cover extending over the top of the box and two openings, one opening being controlled by means operated by the top-cover and capable of receiving packages of ordinary shape and size, and the other open- -ing being normally closed by a small iapdoor and otherwise unobstructed whereby extremely long packages may be entered therethrough, and yielding means for normally holding said flap-door in closed position to permit the passage of a long package and automatically returning the door to closed position, substantially as described.

2. The herein-described package mail-box, comprising a can or receptacle having at its top both a hinged cover extending over the top of thegbox and two openings, means operated by the top-cover for controlling one of said openings and permitting the depositing of packages of ordinary shape and size, and the other opening being normally closed by a small flap-door and otherwise unobstructed whereby extremely long packages may be entered therethrough, and yielding means for normally holding said flap-door in closed position, said top-cover having both a rearward extension inclosing the hinge thereof, and a peripheral .flange inclosing the top edges of lthe box, substantially as described.

3. The herein-described package mail-box, comprising a can or receptacle having at its top both a hinged cover extending over the top of the box and two openings, one opening being capable of receiving packages of ordinary shape and size, means operated by the top-cover for controlling the latter opening, and the other opening being normally closed by a small flap-door and otherwise unobstructed whereby extremely long packages may be entered therethrough, and yielding means for normally holding said Hap-door in closed position, said receptacle at its lower end having a double Vertical Wall forming` a curved recess, a front opening, and a sliding door arranged to close said opening and slide in said recess withoutinterference with the contained mail-matter, substantially as described.

4. The herein-described package mail-box, comprising a can or receptacle having at its top both a hinged cover extending over the top of the box and two openings, one opening being capable of receiving packages of ordinary shape and size, means operated by said top-cover for controlling said latter opening, theotheropening havingalongnarrowportion capable of receiving long fiat packages and a portion capable of receiving long and relatively thick packages,and yielding means normally obstructingthisopening and permitting the depositing of saidllong packages, said receptacle at its lower end having a double wall forming a recess, a front opening, and a rigid, curved sliding door arranged to close said opening and slide in said recess without interference with the mail-matter, and a plurality of hooks within said receptacle about the walls thereof to receive a mail-bag and retain the same in open position to receive mail deposited through either of said top openings, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speciiication in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

. AUSTIN C. CHASE.

Witnesses:

MABEL PARTELOW, SIMON W. HATHEWAY.

IOO

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